Tea or coffee bag



'Sept. 16, 1941 .1 YAi'Es 2,255, 57

TEA OR COFFEE BAG Original Filed Sept. 16, 19218 Inn/Her the'mars F P i- Patented Sept. 16,194

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFVFVICE John Yates, Quincy, Masa, assignor to Pneumatic Scale Co p ration; Limited, Quincy, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Original application September 16, 1938, Serial Divided and this application July 14, 1939, Serial No. 284,407

6 Claims. (Cl. 99--77.1)

\ end of this specification.

In the drawing, Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are diagrammatic views ,partly inperspective and partly in side elevation, illustrating different methods of combining the two different materials forming the body of the bag; Fl 4, 5 and 6 are views of the bag constructed according to the present method illustrating a few of the various combinations of materials which may be used in practicing the present invention; and Figs. '7, 8 and 9 are cross-sectional details of portions of the containers illustrated, the sections being taken on the lines 1-1; 8-! and 9-4 of Figs. 4, 5 and 6 respectively.

In general, the present novel tea or coffee bag comprisesa container having two separate half sections secured together to enclose a quantity of the tea or coffee therein. One of the half sections of the bag is composed of a material of a stiffer and more self-supporting nature than the material of which the second the like and the cost of such materials has con-' tributed substantially to the ultimate cost of the completed tea or ,coffeebag. Attempts to produce satisfactory tea or coffee bags utilizing the more inexpensive and less substantial materials, as the cheaper grades of parchment pa- ,7 per, the coarser meshes of gauze and the like have been unsuccessful, principally because of the difllculty experienced insecuring together In practice, in accordance with the present invention, the bag is composed of two sections secured together by stitching or otherwise and 7 one of the sections may be composed of a relatively substantial and self-supporting. material such as the better grades of parchment paper or the better grades of gauze and the second section of the bag may be formed of the more inexpensive and less substantial materials.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing. Fig. 1 represents one methqdzof combining two different materials to form a continuous web for the production of tea bags. By; way of example, the materials combined are herein illustrated as a lower roll III of perforated high grade cellophane. and an upper roll l2 disposed in overlapping relation to the lower roll along one jacent edges of the materials may then be stitched together by anyusual or preferred form of sewing unit indicated diagrammatically at IS. The sides of the web may then be folded longitudinally as' indicated generally at It to form the two walls of'the bag. As the longitudinal'strip is fed forwardly, separate charges of the commodity are deposited betw n the folds of the web by a suitable filling un t indi-,- cated generally at 20-. The web may be gripped and advanced by the continuously travelling gripper units 22 which close upon the folded strip at points in advance of and behind the charge of teav therein. The web then may be passed by a second stitching unit 24 which closes the upper open edge of the strip by stitching together the free upper longitudinal edges thereof. While the strip in process of being sewed is advancing continuously, the knives 26, 28 operate upon the travelling strip at points midway between adjacent gripper units and sever the strip into bag sections each containing a charge of the commodity being packaged and 1 held by a gripper unit. As the gripper units continue their advance, they are successively rotated through a quarter revolution, as illustrated diagrammatically at ill thus bringing the-bag sections into position tobrlng one oi! the severed edges uppermost where it may enter'a third stitching mechanism -32.

The further advance oi the gripper units 22 causes'the-grippers thereofto rotate successively through two quarter revolutions thus bringing the other end or severed edge of the bag section in uppermost position and in line withthe stitchmechanismof the'fourth sewlng unit a.

At this point in the process of producing. the bag a tag 88 may be carried through the stitching mechanism of this unit so that the continuation of the stitching will cause the tag to be stitched across one edge. A suitable knife 38 may be provided to sever the thread after the tag has been attached.

Any of, the usual tea bagging machines now Figs. 4 and 7, the materials from which the ba is constructed being thereinshown by way of example as cellophane on one side and perforated parchment paper or a diflerent grade of cellophane on the other side. As clearly shown of containers and other materials may be used if desired. I

This application is' a division of my application, Serial No. 230,243, filed September 16, 1938 for'Tea or coffee bag and method of making the same.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. An infusion" bag comprising a substantially rectangular container formed of two half sections of bag-forming material secured together along the marginal edges thereof and adapted to enclose a quantity of a commodity, at least one of said half sections being formed so that l' water may pass therethrough, and one of said in Fig. 7, the overlapping lower edges 48, 42 are joined together by the stitching 45.

A modified method of joining two different materials is illustrated in Fig. 2, wherein the two rolls of different material 46, 48 are supported vertically and the strips 54, 56 are brought together between guide rollers 58, 52. The longitudinal edges of the strips 54, 55 are then stitched together by the sewing unit indicated at 58. The bag may-then be completed in a manne similar to that described in connection with Fig. l, the completed container being shown in Figs. 5 and 8. ,By way of example the materials used in this instance are a textile fabric 58 on one side and either-cellophane or parchment paper 62 on the other.

Another modification of the invention is illustrated in- Figs.- 3, 6 and 9 showing the two different materials such as two different grades of parchment paper being fed from vertically mounted rolls 64, 65. Thestrips-68, 18 are guided between rollers 12, 14 and joined together at their upper longitudinal edges by the sewing unit 15. The web thus formed is turned back upon itself, being folded to confine the stiched lower edge within the "bag as shbwn at 16 in Fig. 9.

The folded web thus formed is then guided to the feeding unit and the stitching machine between rollers -18, 80 to be completed as hereinbefore described.

From' the above description and by reference to the drawing, it will be observed that the present construction of the bag enables an efficient container of the envelope type to be produced with two different materials by making one side of the bag of suiliciently stable material to pport the opposite side during the stitching operation thus enabling a variety of materials to be used which formerly could not be used because of their inability to withstand the stitching operation. As a result a great economy is effected in the production of the container.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a package of the socalled pillow type of tea bag and of specific materials, it'will be understood that other forms half sections being of a self-supporting nature .and being substantially stronger and more stable than the other half section and adapted to support said other half section. v

2. An infusion bag comprising a rectangular container formed of two half sections of bag forming material through which water may pass sewed together around the marginal portions thereof and enclosing a quantity of a commodity, one ofthe half sections being formed of substantially stronger and stiffer material than the other and constituting a support for the latter.

3. An infusion bag of the pillow type comprising a substantially rectangular container formed of two half sections of different bagforming materials secured together along the marginal edgesthereof and adapted to enclose a quantity of a commodity, one of said half sections being transparent so that the contents I of the bag is visible from the exterior thereof.

said half section being substantially stronger and stiffer than the other half section and adapted to serve as a support for said othenhalf section.

4. An infusion bag comprising a container formed of two half sections of flexible porous bag forming material through which water may pass, said sections being sewed together around the marginal portions" thereof and enclosinga quantity of a commodity, one of the half sections being formed of substantially stronger and stiffer material than the other constituting a support for the latter.

5. An infusion bag of the pillow type, comprising a container formed of two sections of different kinds of bag-forming material secured together along the marginal edges thereof and adapted to enclose a quantity of a commodity,

one of said sections consisting of a strip of fibrous material and the other consisting of a strip of paper, said first-mentioned section being substantially stronger and stiffer than the other half section and adapted to support said other half section.

6. An infusion bag of the pillow type com;

prising a container formed of two half sections of different kinds of bag-forming material secured together along the marginal edges thereof' of paper, saidlfirst-mentioned half section being substantially stronger and stiffer than the other half section and constituting a support for said other half section. JOHN YATES. 

